Recording apparatus, recording method, and disc shaped record medium

ABSTRACT

A digital recording apparatus using a disc shaped record medium including an extracting unit that extracts outlined information of each of a plurality of files recorded on the disc shaped record medium. A correlating unit correlates the extracted outlined information and the plurality of files and generates an index file. A recording unit records the index file to a predetermined position of the disc shaped record medium. When a predetermined operation mode is performed, a plurality of types of data of the plurality of files are output in a predetermined format.

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 09/662,699 filed Sep. 15,2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,205.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a record apparatus, a recording method,and a disc shaped record medium that allow a reproducing operationand/or an editing operation to be easily performed.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a recording apparatus such as a camcorder that records video dataand/or audio data, several pictures and a sound thereof are recorded asa file. Such a recording and reproducing apparatus may have a displayportion such as a liquid crystal display panel and a sound generatingportion such as a speaker that allow recorded data to be reproducedand/or edited. In such a recording and reproducing apparatus, when arandom-accessible record medium such as a magneto-optical disc is used,the user can designate a file so as to select his or her desired programto be reproduced or edited.

In recent years, as a multi-media system software program, QuickTime isknown. The QuickTime is a software program that allows data that varieson time base (this data is referred to as movie) to be handled. A moviecontains a moving picture, a voice, and a text. Currently, a QuickTimefile format is available as a Macintosh platform of Apple. The QuickTimefile format is an MPEG-1 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 1) programstream file storage format of which a video elementary stream and anaudio elementary stream are multiplexed on time base). In the storageformat, the entire MPEG-1 file (namely, one whole closed scene) istreated as a sample of the QuickTime file format regardless of theduration thereof. Such a large sample is treated as one large chunk.

In addition, audio data and video data are stored together on one track(or one medium) in the QuickTime file format. As a new medium type thatrepresents such data portions contained in a large sample or a largechunk, MPEG Media has been defined.

In this case, a file is designated by inputting for example a file nameor the like. However, when many files have been recorded, since it isdifficult for the user to memorize a file name and so forth of a filefor which he or she wants to perform a reproducing operation, an editingoperation, or the like, the operability of the apparatus maydeteriorate.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a recordingapparatus, a recoding method, and a disc shaped record medium that allowa reproducing operation and/or an editing operation to be easilyperformed.

A first aspect of the present invention is a digital recording apparatususing a disc shaped record medium, comprising a means for extractingoutlined information of each of a plurality of files recorded on thedisc shaped record medium, a means for correlating the extractedoutlined information and the plurality of files and generating an indexfile, and a means for recording the index file to a predeterminedposition of the disc shaped record medium, wherein when a predeterminedoperation mode is performed, a plurality of types of data of theplurality of files are output in a predetermined format.

A second aspect of the present invention is a digital recording methodusing a disc shaped record medium, comprising the steps of extractingoutlined information of each of a plurality of files recorded on thedisc shaped record medium, correlating the extracted outlinedinformation and the plurality of files and generating an index file, andrecording the index file to a predetermined position of the disc shapedrecord medium, wherein when an operation mode including a reproducingoperation is performed, a plurality of types of data of the plurality offiles are output in a predetermined format.

A third aspect of the present invention is a disc shaped record mediumfor recording a plurality of files and an index file, the index filecorrelating outlines information of the plurality of files and theplurality of files, the index file being recorded at a predeterminedposition of the disc shaped record medium.

According to the present invention, outlined information of each of aplurality of files recorded on a disc shaped record medium is output.Desired data can be easily searched from the outlined information.

The applicant of the present invention has the following patents asprior patents of the present invention:

(1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,475

(2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,053

(3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,879

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of adigital recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the outer shape ofthe embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of indication portionsdisplayed on a display panel;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a QuickTime moviefile;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an index fileaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a table for explaining a property track in detail;

FIG. 7 is a table for explaining property data in detail;

FIG. 8 is a table for explaining a part of the property data in moredetail;

FIG. 9 is a table for explaining a title track in detail;

FIG. 10 is a table for explaining a thumbnail track in detail;

FIG. 11 is a table for explaining an intro-music track in detail;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a designation for realdata on the property track and so forth;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining a designation issued fromanother file for a part of data contained in a move data portion;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining a hierarchical structureof a directory; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining a record position of anindex file.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an example of the structure of a digital recording andreproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. An optical system (not shown) photographs a picture andsupplies photographed light thereof to an image pickup device such as aCCD (Charge Coupled Device). The CCD generates a video signalcorresponding to the photographed light and supplies the generated videosignal to a video encoder 1 shown in FIG. 1. The video encoder 1compression-encodes the video signal. In addition, an audio signalgenerating portion such as a microphone generates an audio signal andsupplies it to an audio encoder 2. The audio encoder 2compression-encodes the audio signal. The compression-encoding methodapplied for the video signal and the audio signal is for example MPEG.Output signals of the video encoder 1 and the audio encoder 2 arereferred to as elementary streams.

When MPEG is used, the video encoder 1 is composed of a motionpredicting portion, a picture sequence rearranging portion, asubtracting portion, a DCT portion, a quantizing portion, a variablelength code encoding portion, and a buffer memory. The motion predictingportion detects a moving vector. The subtracting portion forms apredictive error between an input picture signal and a locally decodedpicture signal. The DCT portion transforms an output signal of thesubtracting portion corresponding to the DCT method. The quantizingportion quantizes an output signal of the DCT portion. The variablelength encoding portion encodes an output signal of the quantizingportion into a signal having a variable length. The buffer memoryoutputs the encoded data at a constant data rate. The picture sequencerearranging portion rearranges the sequence of pictures corresponding tothe encoding process. In other words, the picture sequence rearrangingportion rearranges the sequence of pictures so that after I and Ppictures are encoded, a B picture is encoded. The local decoding portionis composed of an inverse quantizing portion, an inverse DCT portion, anadding portion, a frame memory, and a motion compensating portion. Themotion compensating portion performs all of a forward predictingoperation, a reverse predicting operation, and a bidirectionalpredicting operation. When the intra encoding process is performed, thesubtracting portion directly passes data, not performs the subtractingprocess. The audio encoder 2 comprises a sub-band encoding portion andan adaptively quantized bit allocating portion.

As an example, in the case of a portable disc recording and reproducingapparatus with a built-in camera, a picture photographed by the camerais input as video data. In addition, a voice collected by a microphoneis input as audio data. The video encoder 1 and the audio encoder 2convert analog signals into digital signals. According to the embodimentof the present invention, a rewritable optical disc is used as a recordmedium. Examples of such an optical disc are a magneto-optical disc anda phase-change type disc. According to the embodiment of the presentinvention, a magneto-optical disc having a relatively small diameter isused.

Output signals of the video encoder 1 and the audio encoder 2 aresupplied to a file generator 5. The file generator 5 converts outputsignals of the video encoder 1 and the audio encoder 2 into a videoelementary stream and an audio elementary stream so that they can behandled corresponding to a computer software program for synchronouslyreproducing a moving picture and a sound without need to use a dedicatedhardware portion. According to the embodiment of the present invention,for example, as such a software program, QuickTime is used. QuickTime isa software program that allows various types of data such as a stillpicture, a text, an audio sound, and MIDI (Musical Instrument DigitalInterface) as well as a moving picture to be handled and controlled ontime base. A file that contains various types of data using QuickTime isreferred to as QuickTime movie file.

The file generator 5 multiplexes encoded video data and encoded audiodata. To generate a QuickTime movie file, a system controllingmicrocomputer 9 controls the file generator 5. An index file accordingto the present invention is also generated by the file generator 5.

QuickTime movie files generated by the file generator 5 are successivelywritten to a memory 7 through a memory controller 8. When the systemcontrolling microcomputer 9 issues a data write request for a disc tothe memory controller 8, the memory controller 8 reads a QuickTime moviefile from the memory 7. In this example, the transfer rate of theencoding process for a QuickTime movie file is lower than that for datawritten to the disc. For example, the former is half of the latter.Thus, although QuickTime movie files are successively written to thememory 7, they are intermittently read from the memory 7 under thecontrol of the system controlling microcomputer 9 in such a manner thatthe memory 7 is prevented from overflowing or underflowing.

A QuickTime movie file that is read from the memory 7 through the memorycontroller 8 is supplied to an error correction encoder/decoder 11. Theerror correction encoder/decoder 11 temporarily writes a Quicklime moviefile to a memory 10. The error correction encoder/decoder 11 performs aninterleaving process and an error correction code encoding process so asto generate redundant data. The error correction encoder/decoder 11reads the QuickTime movie file with redundant data from the memory 10.

Output data of the error correction encoder/decoder 11 is supplied to adata modulator/demodulator 13. When digital data is recorded on thedisc, the data modulator/demodulator 13 modulates the data in such amanner that a clock signal can be easily extracted so that data can berecorded on a disc free from a problem such as an inter-codeinterference.

An output signal of the data modulator/demodulator 13 is supplied to amagnetic field modulating driver 14. In addition, a signal for drivingan optical pickup 23 is output to the magnetic field modulating driver14. The magnetic field modulating driver 14 drives a magnetic field head22 corresponding to the input signal so as to apply a magnetic field toan optical disc 20. The optical pickup 23 radiates a recording laserbeam to the optical disc 20. In such a manner, data is recorded on theoptical disc 20. The optical disc 20 is rotated at CLV (Constant LinearVelocity), CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), or ZCAV (Zone CLV of whichthe disc surface area is divided into for example three areas in each ofwhich the optical disc 20 is rotated at CAV in such a manner that thevelocity of the innermost area is the highest and the velocity of theoutermost area is the lowest) so that their linear velocities nearlybecome the same.

Since data that is intermittently read from the memory controller 8 isrecorded to the optical disc 20, data is not successively recorded. Inother words, after a predetermined amount of data is recorded, therecording operation is stopped until the next record request isreceived.

When the system controlling microcomputer 9 issues a request to a drivecontrolling microcomputer 12, it issues a request to a servo circuit 15so as to control the entire disc drive. Thus, the disc drive performs arecording operation. The servo circuit 15 performs a disc radial movingservo operation, a tracking servo operation, and a focus servo operationfor the optical pickup 23. In addition, the servo circuit 15 performs aspindle servo operation for a motor 21. In association with the systemcontrolling microcomputer 9, a user operation input portion (not shown)is disposed.

Next, the structure and operation of the reproducing portion will bedescribed. When data is reproduced, a reproducing laser beam is radiatedto the optical disc 20. A detector of the optical pickup 23 converts thereflected light of the optical disc 20 into a reproduction signal. Atracking error and a focus error are detected from an output signal ofthe detector of the optical pickup 23. The servo circuit 15 controls theoptical pickup 23 so that the optical pickup 23 is placed and focused ona desired track. In addition, the servo circuit 15 controls the radialmovement of the optical pickup 23 so that it reproduces data on adesired track of the optical disc 20.

As with the recording operation, when data is reproduced, the transferrate of data reproduced from the optical disc 20 is higher than that ofa QuickTime movie file. For example, the transfer rate of datareproduced form the optical disc 20 is twice as large as the transferrate of a QuickTime movie file. Likewise, data is not successivelyreproduced from the optical disc 20. In other words, an intermittentreproducing operation is performed in such a manner that after apredetermined amount of data is reproduced, the reproducing operation isstopped until the next reproducing request is received. As with therecording operation, in the reproducing operation, when the systemcontrolling microcomputer 9 issues a request to the drive controllingmicrocomputer 12, it issues a request to the servo circuit 15 so as tocontrol the entire disc drive.

The reproduction signal that is output from the optical pickup 23 isinput to the data modulator/demodulator 13. The datamodulator/demodulator 13 demodulates the reproduction signal. Thedemodulated data is supplied to the error correction encoder/decoder 11.The error correction encoder/decoder 11 temporarily writes thereproduction data to the memory 10. The error correction encoder/decoder11 performs a deinterleaving process and an error correcting process forthe reproduction data. The error-corrected QuickTime movie file iswritten to the memory 7 through the memory controller 8.

A QuickTime movie file written to the memory 7 is output to a filedecoder 6 in synchronization with a demultiplexing timing correspondingto a request issued by the system controlling microcomputer 9. Thesystem controlling microcomputer 9 supervises the amount of data that isreproduced from the optical disc 20 and written to the memory 7 and theamount of data that is read from the memory 7 and output to the filedecoder 6 so as to successively reproduce the video signal and the audiosignal. In addition, the system controlling microcomputer 9 controls thememory controller 8 and the drive controlling microcomputer 12 so as toread data from the optical disc 20 in such a manner that the memory 7does not overflow or underflow.

The file decoder 6 decodes a QuickTime movie file into a videoelementary stream and an audio elementary stream under the control ofthe system controlling microcomputer 9. The video elementary stream issupplied to a video decoder 3. The audio elementary stream is suppliedto an audio decoder 4. The video elementary stream and the audioelementary stream are synchronously output from the file decoder 6.

The video decoder 3 and the audio decoder 4 compression-decode the videoelementary stream and the audio elementary stream and generate a videooutput signal and an audio output signal, respectively. In this example,the video signal and the audio signal have been encoded corresponding toMPEG. The video decoder 3 is composed of a buffer memory, a variablelength code decoding portion, an inverse DCT portion, an inversequantizing portion, an adding portion, and a local decoding portion. Theadding portion adds an output signal of the inverse quantizing portionand a local decoded output signal. The local decoding portion iscomposed of a picture sequence rearranging portion, a frame memory, anda motion compensating portion.

When an intra encoding process is performed, the adding portion directlypasses data, not performs the adding process. Decoded data is outputfrom the adding portion to the picture sequence rearranging portion. Thepicture sequence rearranging portion rearranges the decoded pictures inthe original order. Output data of the video decoder 3 is supplied to adisplay portion (not shown). The display portion is for example an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display). The output data of the video decoder 3 may besupplied to an external picture display device through an externaloutput terminal. Output data of the audio decoder 4 is supplied to asound generating portion (not shown). The sound generating portion isfor example a speaker. Alternatively, the output data of the audiodecoder 4 may be supplied to an external audio generating device throughan external output terminal.

As was described above, since the optical disc 20 on which data isrecorded is attachable and detachable, the data recorded on the opticaldisc 20 can be reproduced by another apparatus. For example, a personalcomputer that operates with QuickTime application software may read datarecorded on the optical disc 20 and reproduce video data and audio datatherefrom. It should be noted that the present invention can be appliedto an apparatus that handles only video data or only audio data.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external structure of theembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a lens 210 isan objective lens disposed at the forward end of the optical system. Adisplay panel 220 displays a reproduced picture and indicationscorresponding to an operation mode. The display panel 220 has a displaydevice such as an LCD and a piezoelectric device. By touching eachindication portion with a pointing device 230, the user or the like caninput an operation command for a reproducing operation and so forth.

When a random-accessible disc shaped record medium is used, the user canselect a desired file by inputting for example a file name thereof.However, when many files have been recorded on the record medium, it isdifficult for the user to memorize the file name of the desired file.Thus, the operability for the reproducing operation and the editingoperation may deteriorate. To solve such a problem, according to theembodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, representativepictures P1 to P9 (referred to as thumbnail pictures) of for examplenine files are displayed on the display panel 220 so that the user canselect a desired file with reference thereto. When the user presses adesired thumbnail picture with the pointing device 230, he or she canselect the desired file.

When the user presses indication portions 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, and228 with the pointing device 230, he or she can input his or her desiredcommand for a reproducing operation, an editing operation, or the likefor a selected file. In this example, a sound corresponding to thepicture selected with the pointing device 230 can be reproduced for apredetermined time period (for example, several seconds).

An indication portion 221 indicates an operation mode such as areproducing and editing operation, a recording operation, or the like.On the other hand, an indication portion 222 indicates a recordableremaining time period. An indication portion 229 indicates a scroll barthat allows thumbnail pictures that cannot be displayed at a time to bedisplayed corresponding to a scrolling operation of an indicationportion 229 a operated with the pointing device 230. Thus, even if morethan nine thumbnails have been recorded, they can successively displayedby the scrolling operation.

As a method for searching a file, according to the embodiment of thepresent invention, an index file that contains a set of parts of picturedata and/or audio data of a plurality of files recorded on the discshaped record medium is generated. The generated index file is recordedat a predetermined position of the disc shaped record medium. The indexfile can be generated in for example the QuickTime movie file format.

Next, a QuickTime movie file will be described. FIG. 4 shows an exampleof a QuickTime movie file that allows both audio data and video data tobe handled. The major structural portions of a QuickTime movie file area movie resource portion and a movie data portion. The movie resourceportion contains data that represents the duration for reproducing thefile and data for referencing real data. The movie data portion containsreal data of video data, audio data, and so forth.

Next, the movie resource portion will be described in detail. The movieresource portion contains a movie header 41 and tracks. The movie header41 contains general file information. There are a plurality of trackscorresponding to the number of types of data. FIG. 4 shows an example ofthe internal structure of a video track 50 in detail. The video track 50contains a track header 42 and a medium portion. The track header 42contains general track information. The medium portion contains a mediumheader 43, a medium handler 44, and a medium information portion. Themedium header 43 contains general medium information. The medium handler44 contains medium data handling information.

The medium information portion contains a medium handler 45, a datahandler 46, data information 47, and a sample table. The medium handler45 contains picture medium information. The data handler 46 containspicture data handling information. The data information 47 contains datainformation. The sample table contains a sample description, atime-to-sample, a sample size 48, a sample-to-chunk, a chunk offset 49,a sync sample, and so forth. The sample description contains eachsample. The time-to-sample represents the relation between a sample andthe time base. The sample size 48 represents the size of the sample. Thesample-to-chunk represents the relation between the sample and thechunk. The chunk offset 49 represents the start byte position of thechunk in the movie file. The sync sample contains synchronousinformation. In the QuickTime movie file format, the minimum data unit(for example, a picture in MPEG encoded data) is treated as a sample. Asa set of samples, a chunk is defined. To improve the accessibility ofdata that is recorded and reproduced, successive samples are recorded ina chunk. An audio track 51 has a structure (not shown) similar to thatof a video track.

On the other hand, the movie data portion contains audio data encodedcorresponding to for example MPEG Audio Layer 2 and picture data encodedin the compression-encoding method corresponding to for example MPEG(Moving Picture Expert Group) method in the unit of chunks each of whichis composed of a predetermined number of samples. However, it should benoted that the present invention is not limited to such an encodingmethod. In addition, the moving data portion may contain linear datathat has not been compression-encoded.

Each track of the movie resource portion is correlated with datacontained in the movie data portion. In other words, in the exampleshown in FIG. 3, since audio data and video data are handled, the movieresource portion contains a video track and an audio track. The moviedata portion contains real data of the audio data and real data of thevideo data. When other types of data are handled, the movie resourceportion contains their tracks and the movie data portion contains realdata thereof. For example, when a text and MIDI are handled, the movieresource portion contains tracks of the text and the MIDI and the moviedata portion contains real data thereof.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, an index file isgenerated with a QuickTime movie file. The index file handles datacorresponding to types of data handled in a file to be searched. In thisexample, it is assumed that a file to be searched contains video dataand audio data (hereinafter this file is referred to as AV file). Inthis case, the index file handles four types of data that are aproperty, a title, a thumbnail picture, and an intro-music. The propertyrepresents the attribute of the AV file. The title represents the titleof the AV file. The thumbnail picture is a representative picture of forexample the first picture of the AV file. The intro-music is typicalaudio data of for example the first several seconds of the AV file.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the index file generatedwith a QuickTime movie file. In this example, the movie resource portioncontains tracks corresponding to four types of data that are a propertytrack 62, a title track 63, a thumbnail picture track 64, and anintro-music track 65 as well as a movie header 61. However, only theproperty track 62 is an essential track. The other tracks are usedcorresponding to the types of data that the index file handles. In thisexample, the movie data portion contains four types of real data thatare a property, a title, a thumbnail picture, and an intro-music.Likewise, only the property data is essential data. The other types ofreal data are used corresponding to the types of data that the indexfile handles.

FIG. 6 shows a table of an example of the property track 62. Each of AVFile Property #1, AV File Property #2, . . . , and AV File Property #ndefined as chunks of properties of individual AV files has a data length(variable length represented in bytes) (L_AP1, L_AP2, . . . , and L_APn)and a start byte position (0, L_AP1, L_AP1+L_AP2, . . . ).

FIG. 7 shows an example of property data (real data) of each AV file.One byte starting with byte 0 represents version information. Two bytesstarting with byte 1 represent a flag area (that will be describedlater). One byte starting with byte 3 represents a data type such as amoving picture, a still picture, audio, or the like. Four bytes startingwith byte 4 represents date and time of creation of the AV file. Fourbytes starting with byte 8 represents date and time of last change ofthe AV file.

Four bytes starting with byte 12 represent the duration of thereproduction of the AV file. L_F1 bytes (variable bytes) starting withbyte 16 represent the file name of the AV file. Thus, as was describedabove, the data lengths of property data of the AV files are representedas variable length L_AP1, L_AP2, . . . , and L_APn.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the structure of the flag area. When therecorded data is a file, bit 0 is 0. When the recorded data is a set ofgrouped files or a directory, bit 0 is 1. When there is no file to bereferenced to the AV file, bit 1 is 0. When there is a file to bereferenced to the AV file, bit 1 is 1. When the AV file does not containa title, bit 2 is 0. When the AV file contains a title, bit 2 is 1. Whenthe index file contains data of a title, bit 3 is 0. When data of atitle is contained in an AV file designated by property data, bit 3is 1. When the AV file does not contain a thumbnail picture, bit 4 is 0.When the AV file contains a thumbnail picture, bit 4 is 1.

When the index file contains data of a thumbnail picture, bit 5 is 0.When an AV file designated by property data contains data of a thumbnailpicture, bit 5 is 1. When the AV file does not contain data of anintro-music, bit 6 is 0. When the AV file contains data of anintro-music, bit 6 is 1. When the AV file contains data of anintro-music, bit 7 is 0. When an AV file designated by property datacontains data of an intro-music, bit 7 is 1. Bits 8 to 15 are reserved.

FIG. 9 shows a table of an example of the structure of the title track63. According to the embodiment of the present invention, a title can beregistered to each AV file to be searched. The registered title isplaced as real data in the movie data porion. The data length and thestart position of the title of each AV file are represented with thetitle track. As shown in FIG. 9, the title track is defined as a chunkcorresponding to title data of each AV file. Each of AV File Title #1,AV File Title #2, . . . , and AV File Title #n defined as chunks oftitle data of the individual AV files has a data length (variable lengthrepresented in bytes) L_AT1, L_AT2, . . . , and L_ATn and a start byteposition 0, L_AT1, L_AT1+L_AT2, . . . .

FIG. 10 shows an example of the structure of the thumbnail picture track64. According to the embodiment of the present invention, one thumbnailpicture can be registered to each AV file to be searched. The registeredthumbnail picture is placed as real data in the movie data portion. Thedata length and the start position of a thumbnail picture of each AVfile are represented with the thumbnail track. Each of AV File Thumbnail#1, AV File Thumbnail #2, . . . and AV File Thumbnail #n defined aschunks of thumbnail data of individual AV files has a data length(variable length represented in bytes) L_TH1, L_TH2, . . . , and L_THnand a start byte position 0, L_TH1, L_TH1+L_TH2, . . . .

FIG. 11 shows an example of the structure of the intro-music track 65.According to the embodiment of the present invention, one intro-portion(of for example the first five seconds) of audio data can be registeredto each AV file to be searched. An intro-music to be registered isplaced as real data in the movie data portion. The data length and thestart position of an intro-music of each AV file are represented withthe intro-music track. Each of AV File Intro Music #1, AV File IntroMusic #2, . . . and AV File Intro Music #n defined as chunks ofintro-musics of individual AV files has a data length (variable lengthrepresented in bytes) L_IS1, L_IS2, . . . , and L_ISn and a start byteposition 0, L_IS1, L_IS1+L_IS2, . . . .

In the QuickTime movie file format, data contained in the property track62, the title track 63, the thumbnail picture track 64, the intro-musictrack 65, and so forth is represented in the QuickTime movie file formatas shown in FIG. 12. As was described above, the medium informationportion of each track of the movie resource portion contains a samplesize table and a chunk offset table (see FIG. 4). The sample size tablesof the property track 62, the title track 63, the thumbnail picturetrack 64, and the intro-music track 65 contain property data, titledata, thumbnail picture data, and intro-music data of each AV file.

S11, S12, . . . , S1 n represent the sizes of property data of AV File#1, AV File #2, . . . , and AV File #n, respectively. S31, S32, . . . ,S3 n represent the sizes of data of thumbnail pictures of AV File #1, AVFile #2, . . . , and AV File #n, respectively. S41, S42, . . . , and S4n represent the sizes of intro-music data of AV File #1, AV File #2, . .. , and AV File #n, respectively.

Likewise, the chunk offset table contains record start byte positions ofthe property, the title, the thumbnail picture data, and the intro-musicdata of each AV file. O11, O12, . . . , and O1 n represent the startbyte positions of property data of AV File #1, AV File #2, . . . , andAV File #n, respectively. O21, O22, . . . , O2 n represent the startbyte positions of the titles of AV File #1, AV File #2, . . . , and AVFile #n, respectively. O31, O32, . . . , and O3 n represent the startbyte positions of the thumbnail pictures of AV File #1, AV File #2, . .. , and AV File #n, respectively. O41, O42, . . . , and O4 n representthe start byte positions of the intro-music data of AV File #1, AV File#2, . . . , and AV File #n, respectively.

In the above-described structure, the property data, the title data, thethumbnail picture data, the intro-music data, and so forth of each AVfile can be accurately accessed in the movie data portion.

In the above description, data to be searched is output corresponding toan AV index file containing a movie resource portion and a movie dataportion. Alternatively, by designating data contained in the movie dataportion of another index file with a file containing only a movieresource portion, video data, audio data, and so forth to be searchedcan be output. Next, such a case will be described. It is assumed thatan AV Index File #0 containing a movie resource portion and a movie dataportion and an AV Index File #1 containing only a movie resource portionhave been recorded as shown in FIG. 13. When bit 0 of the flag area ofthe property data of AV Index File #0 is “1”, recorded data is a set ofgrouped files or a directory (see FIG. 8). As a source portion of realdata contained in a set of grouped files or a directory, AV Index File#1 is designated.

AV Index File #1 contains a part of the movie data portion of AV IndexFile #0 (for example, the data size, the start byte position, and soforth of each of the property data, the title data, and the thumbnailpicture data of each AV file as shown in FIG. 13). Alternatively, AVIndex File #1 can designate only a part of movie data portion of AVIndex File #0 corresponding to a particular AV file. Thus, only one ofstored title data, thumbnail picture data, intro-music data, and soforth can be output so as to search a desired AV file. Alternatively, aprocess for outputting data corresponding to only a part of AV filesrecorded on the record medium can be performed. Thus, the user canfilter a search range and then perform a searching operation.

In addition, data contained in the movie resource portion of the indexfile may be correlated with data contained in the movie data portion ofanother index file. For example, when bit 5 of the flag area of theproperty data of AV Index File #0 is “1”, data of the thumbnail pictureis contained in a file designated by the property track (see FIG. 8).The designated file is QT Movie File #1. QT Movie File #1 contains amovie resource portion and a movie data portion. The movie data portioncontains thumbnail picture data and conventional video data.

Thus, data to be searched can be handled in other than theabove-described index file format. Thus, the format of a file to besearched becomes more flexible. The movie data portion of QT Movie File#1 contains data of the thumbnail picture. Alternatively, the movie dataportion may contain title data and intro-music data. In this case, bit 7of the flag area of the property data of AV Index File #0 is “1”.

When bit 0 of the flag area of the property data is “1” and recordeddata is a set of grouped files or a directory, data can behierarchically handled. In other words, as shown in FIG. 14, index fileAVIF0000.MOV containing a movie resource portion and a movie dataportion is treated as a root directory. The movie resource portion ofAVIF0000.MOV contains the sample size and chunk offset that designatethe property data, title data, thumbnail picture data, intro-music data,and so forth contained in the movie data portion of AVIF0000.MOV.

At this point, since the title data contains a file name, AVIF0001.MOVis designated as a lower hierarchical directory. Since AVIF0001.MOV hasthe QuickTime movie file format, the property data designatesAV000001.MOV and AV000002.MOV as other (lower hierarchical) directories.Thus, data can be hierarchically handled in such a hierarchical filestructure.

As shown in FIG. 15, the index file is recorded at a predeterminedposition (for example, the innermost peripheral position 71) of the discshaped record medium 70. When a reproducing and editing mode getsstarted, the index file is initially reproduced. Thus, when thereproducing and editing mode gets started, a searching screen as shownin FIG. 2 is displayed. Conventional AV files are recorded in the otherrecord area.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, data of the indexfile for searching a desired AV file is output using the display panel,the speaker, or the like of the recording apparatus. In addition, thepresent invention can be applied to the case that the reproducing andediting operation is performed using an external apparatus that outputsvideo data, audio data, and/or the like.

The present invention is not limited to the compression-encoding methodused in recording video data, audio data, and/or the like. Instead, thepresent invention can be applied to data that can be handled in forexample QuickTime movie file format.

According to the present invention, outlined information of each of aplurality of files recorded on a disc shaped record medium is output.With reference to the outlined information, a desired file can be easilysearched.

Thus, when the reproducing and editing operation is performed, data tobe operated can be easily accessed and thereby the operability can beimproved.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with respectto a best mode embodiment thereof, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes,omissions, and additions in the form and detail thereof may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

1. A digital recording apparatus usable with a recording medium,comprising: means for extracting information of each of a plurality offiles recorded on the recording medium; means for correlating theextracted information and the plurality of files and generating an indexfile; and means for recording the index file on the recording medium,wherein the index file is recorded to a predetermined area of therecording medium, and wherein the extracted information includesproperty information, and at least one of thumbnail information or titleinformation, wherein the property information pertains to a number ofattributes of said plurality of files, includes at least one of thefollowing two items: (i) data indicating whether or not the index fileincludes thumbnail information, and (ii) data indicating whether or notthe index file includes title information, wherein the thumbnailinformation includes a plurality of representative images whichrepresent the plurality of files, and wherein the property informationis correlated to at least one of the file, the thumbnail information andthe title information, and the property information includes datarepresenting a data type of the file, which indicates the file is amoving picture file or a still picture file.
 2. The recording apparatusas set forth in claim 1, wherein the data included in the propertyinformation indicates that the thumbnail information is contained in afile designated by the index file.
 3. The recording apparatus as setforth in claim 1, wherein the data included in the property informationindicates that the title information is contained in a file designatedby the index file.
 4. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the index file is recorded in an innermost peripheral recordarea of the recording medium.
 5. The recording apparatus as set forth inclaim 1, wherein when a predetermined operating mode is started, theinformation is reproduced from the index file and the reproducedinformation is output in such a manner that it is correlated with eachof the plurality of files.
 6. The recording apparatus as set forth inclaim 5, wherein the predetermined operation mode is a reproducing modeor an editing mode.
 7. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the information contains attribute data of the plurality offiles.
 8. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein theattribute data includes date and time data that represent the date andtime at which each of the plurality of files was recorded.
 9. Therecording apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein the attribute dataincludes date and time data that represent the date and time at whicheach of the plurality of files was changed.
 10. The recording apparatusas set forth in claim 7, wherein the attribute data includes durationdata that represents the duration of each of the plurality of files. 11.The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein the attributedata includes type data that represents the type of each of theplurality of files.
 12. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the extracted information includes the title of each of theplurality of files.
 13. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the extracted information includes a part of video datacontained in each of the plurality of files.
 14. The recording apparatusas set forth in claim 1, wherein the extracted information includes apart of audio data contained in each of the plurality of files.
 15. Therecording apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the index filecontains a first area and a second area, the first area being composedof an aggregation of the information, the second area containingcorrelative information of the information and the remaining data of thefiles and position information representing the positions of theinformation of each of the plurality of files.
 16. The recordingapparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein the second area containscorrelative information of the information and the remaining data of agroup selected from the plurality of files.
 17. The recording apparatusas set forth in claim 15, wherein a resource file is further recorded onthe recording medium, the resource file containing the same data as thesecond area, with the position information representing the positions ofthe information in the first area, the plurality of types of data of theplurality of files recorded on the recording medium being able to beeasily searched when an operation mode including a reproducing operationis performed.
 18. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 17,wherein the resource file contains information for correlating theinformation and the remaining data of a group selected from theplurality of files recorded on the recording medium.
 19. The recordingapparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein the second area designatesdata of the first area of another index file.
 20. The recordingapparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein the second area designatesdata of a different file.
 21. The recording apparatus as set forth inclaim 20, wherein the different file contains the extracted information.22. A digital recording method usable with a recording medium,comprising the steps of: extracting information of each of a pluralityof files recorded on the recording medium; correlating the extractedinformation and the plurality of files and generating an index file; andrecording the index file on the recording medium, wherein the index fileis recorded to a predetermined area of the recording medium, and whereinthe extracted information includes property information, and at leastone of thumbnail information or title information, wherein the propertyinformation pertains to a number of attributes of said plurality offiles, includes at least one of the following two items (i) dataindicating whether or not the index file includes thumbnail information(ii) data indicating whether or not the index file includes titleinformation, wherein the thumbnail information includes a plurality ofrepresentative images which represent the plurality of files, andwherein the property information is correlated to at least one of thefile, the thumbnail information and the title information, and theproperty information includes data representing a data type of the file,which indicates the file is a moving picture file or a still picturefile.
 23. The digital recording method as set forth in claim 22, whereinthe data included in the property information indicates that thethumbnail information is contained in a file designated by the indexfile.
 24. The digital recording method as set forth in claim 22, whereinthe data included in the property information indicates that the titleinformation is contained in a file designated by the index file.
 25. Acomputer-readable medium for storing a plurality of files and an indexfile; wherein the index file correlates information of the plurality offiles and the plurality of files, wherein the index file is recordableon the recording medium, wherein the index file is recorded to apredetermined area of the recording medium, and wherein the informationincludes property information, and at least one of thumbnail informationor title information, wherein the property information pertains to anumber of attributes of said plurality of files, includes at least oneof the following two items: (i) data indicating whether or not the indexfile includes thumbnail information, (ii) data indicating whether or notthe index file includes title information, wherein the thumbnailinformation includes a plurality of representative images whichrepresent the plurality of files, and wherein the property informationis correlated to at least one of the file, the thumbnail information andthe title information, and the property information includes datarepresenting a data type of the file, which indicates the file is amoving picture file or a still picture file.
 26. The computer-readablemedium as set forth in claim 25, wherein the data included in theproperty information indicates that the thumbnail information iscontained in a file designated by the index file.
 27. Thecomputer-readable medium as set forth in claim 25, wherein the dataincluded in the property information indicates that the titleinformation is contained in a file designated by the index file.
 28. Adigital recording apparatus usable with a recording medium, comprising:means for generating image data; means for recording the image data asan image file on the recording medium; means for extracting informationof each of a plurality of image files recorded on the recording medium;means for correlating the extracted information and the plurality ofimage files and generating an index file; and means for recording theindex file on the recording medium, wherein the index file is recordedto a predetermined area of the recording medium, and wherein theextracted information includes property information, and at least one ofthumbnail information or title information, wherein the propertyinformation pertains to a number of attributes of said plurality offiles, includes at least one of the following two items: (i) dataindicating whether or not the index file includes thumbnail information,and (ii) data indicating whether or not the index file includes titleinformation, wherein the thumbnail information includes a plurality ofrepresentative images which represent the plurality of files, andwherein the property information is correlated to at least one of thefile, the thumbnail information and the title information, and theproperty information includes data representing a data type of the file,which indicates the file is a moving picture file or a still picturefile.
 29. The digital recording apparatus as set forth in claim 28,further comprising: means for displaying the representative image dataon a screen device; and means for pointing the representative image dataon the screen device; wherein the image data is regenerated on thescreen device based on the index file when the representative image datais pointed.
 30. The digital recording apparatus as set forth in claim29, wherein the data included in the property information indicates thatthe thumbnail information is contained in a file designated by the indexfile.
 31. The digital recording apparatus as set forth in claim 29,wherein the data included in the property information indicates that thetitle information is contained in a file designated by the index file.